Scruffy’s This N That
1 – GIANT STEP FOR CFL: I, and many others, knew the new CFL television deal would involve a streaming service. It was something that had to happen seeing the other North American pro leagues are doing it. I thought because of the Bell connection that the streaming service would be Crave, but it’s not. The news on Thursday morning that Saturday night football will now be on DAZN with YouTube getting involved as well is a huge move for the league. There are reports the six-year deal is worth 500 million dollars. It is what the CFL has needed for many years. This will result in the league being better for everyone as it modernizes and evolves which is something they have been guilty of not doing for the last few decades.
Predictably, there is pushback from people saying they are not going to pay to watch the CFL on a streaming service. I think of a lot of this pushback is some people who just have to huff and puff their negativity to feel important, but whatever. A majority of those people are also in mid 50’s or older which is a demographic the league isn’t concentrating on. Streaming is the way to go and like it or not its going away anytime soon as the CFL joins the other pro leagues in having lucrative streaming deals in their back pocket. DAZN already allowed Canadians to watch “Sunday Ticket” on their platform and there are many who have it so DAZN basically becomes the weekend home of football in Canada. Let’s not forget that YouTube also becomes a major partner.
Stewart Johnston has come through for the CFL the way the league wanted him to when he became commissioner. The league is smiling, the teams are smiling, the players are smiling and the stakeholders are smiling. Now its up to you to get on board or not. By the way, for those who insist the league fire Johnston, don’t hold your breath because he has brokered a deal that brings big $$$$ to the league which is exactly what’s wanted. One only has to look at what Gary Bettman and Roger Goodell are doing with their leagues and the money they are generating—oh did I mention both have bargained TV rights with streamers?
2 – NEW BLOOD: One of the best things for this guy with the new DAZN deal is we are going to see some fresh faces/voices on the broadcast—at least I hope we will. We will have a dedicated host, analyst, panel, sideline person. I have no idea what way the CFL lean will when it comes to people that may come to mind, but I could see Justin Dunk as a host, Darren Dupont and Daved Benefield as your p x p crew and Arash Madani is as your insider/sideline person. Could Luke Willson leave the TSN games to be involved? Whether or not any of all of those guys are involved in some manner is something we will find out when the rollout begins, but it will be good to have a fresh look at the game. By the way, this is not a shot at the current TSN talent that currently do their job in a very good manner. When the decision was made to start airing Saturday afternoon games on CTV, I was hoping that we would see a different host and talent with a different graphics package and a completely different look. I was disappointed to see that didn’t happen. I don’t think I’ll be disappointed this time.
3 – FILLING THE VOID: TSN now has a three-hour window to fill during football season. With their partnership with ESPN, I am guessing you will see a lot of NCAA Football. Yes, US College Football is more lucrative to advertisers than the CFL kids. While I doubt it would happen, I wonder if TSN could approach USports or maybe vice-versa to have a Saturday night Canadian university game of the week with games rotating from the four conferences—maybe we could even see a doubleheader!
There are many in this country who don’t follow Canadian college football including right here in the 306 where people don’t realize how good Canada West is with many who play in Saskatoon and Regina being future Canadian stars. Showcasing those future Canadian stars across the country is something that needs to be done and TSN can now do it if they want. Yes, I realize this likely is something that won’t happen, but one can dream can’t they?
4 – PLAY BALL: The 2026 WCBL season is underway. The Regina Red Sox will open up the home portion of their sked tonight (Saturday) and Sunday afternoon against Medicine Hat as the Sox look to repeat as league champs. While the same big dope that has done public address for the last two years will be back for the majority of games this year, there is going to be a different look to Currie Field. A video board will be in the outfield, the concession and merchandise area has been revamped, and word is there will be food trucks at the ballpark which will make my decision as to what to chow down before the game starts a little tougher. I digress!
Those coming out this weekend won’t see a lot of the players that beat Sylvan Lake for the championship last year, but some haven’t gotten back to Regina yet. There are 10 guys back from last year including playoff MVP and local product Brady Bye, Jalen Meyers, Ian Montz and Justin Simard.
It’s always hard to figure out just who has what as players shuffle in and out for various reasons in the first half of the season. One only has to look at the Red Sox to see the change they had midway through the season and what ended up happening. Bottom line is if you have a chance to check out some great baseball in our province, go do so as chances are you will be entertained.
5 – VGK: Like it or not, the Vegas Golden Knights are going to the Stanley Cup Final. The Knights silenced some mouthy and oh-so-cocky Avalanche fans by getting rid of the regular season’s best team in four straight games.
Seeing the Knights have the possibility to raise hockey’s holy grail has many up in arms because of the way Vegas does business. You know what, they don’t care and they probably relish being the heel. One can not take away that the Knights are going to their 3rd Cup final in nine years.
It has constantly amazed me as to how Kelly McCrimmon is never nominated for the league’s best GM award. Look at his track record and look at it this year. We all wondered what the h-e double hockeysticks McCrimmon and George McPhee was doing when Bruce Cassidy was given the axe so late in the regular season as Vegas was fighting for a Pacific Division crown. We weren’t surprised when the Knights signed Mitch Marner and we shouldn’t have been surprised that Carter Hart found a spot to resume his hockey career in Vegas. Would the Knights be where they are if it weren’t for Marner, Hart and John Tortorella? You know the answer to that and so do I!
You can be upset with what the Knights have done, but they are showing everyone that they don’t care what needs to be done to win the Stanley Cup they are going to do it. The fanbases of 31 other teams should wish the same thing for their squad.
6 – VGK VS CAROLINA: Who had a Knights-Hurricanes final on their betting slip. If you did, congratulations because that’s a nice return on the investment. These two teams are certainly playing great hockey having gotten rid of the Avalanche and Canadiens in relatively easy fashion. Carolina just smothered Montreal. The Canadiens and their group of talented forwards just couldn’t find a way to generate offence. I think Montreal’s forwards collectively are better than Vegas’—-not by much though. If Montreal couldn’t get any shots on Carolina, how is Vegas supposed to? The Knights have a tougher group of forwards which should help produce some opportunities, but if they can’t, this might be a short series unless Carter Hart can steal a game or two. If that happens, he could steal the Conn Smythe Trophy from Mitch Marner. We’ll see what goes down starting Tuesday.
7 – TWEAKING 3 ON 3: I’m not the biggest fan of 3 on 3 overtimes, especially in international hockey when a major championship can be decided in what becomes a different version of the game. Yes, I said that before Canada beat Finland at the Olympics in 3 on 3. The NHL and the IIHF has to take a good look at what is being done with 3 on 3 and tweak it somewhat.
I hate it when a team gets possession of the puck in the offensive zone and seeing nothing is there, they take it out and go back into their own end to set up. This was highly evident last Sunday night when Chicoutimi beat Kelowna at the Memorial Cup in what might have been the worst 3 on 3 I’ve seen. Chicoutimi got the puck and they basically played keep away by constantly going back into their own zone and when Kelowna got the puck, they did the same thing.
Basketball has its over and back rule where you can’t go back into your own end once you cross the center line. Hockey needs to do this. If the NHL does it, the junior leagues will follow suit. I would much rather have this change than changing the playoff format.
8 – RIP CLAUDE: I joked after seeing Claude Lemieux come out with the torch before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final that Darren McCarty and Kris Draper were likely not allowed in the building. Little did I or anyone else know that would be the last we would see of the game’s greatest if not the greatest agitator. It was with shock that we learned of Lemieux’s death on Thursday and that shock was then met with sadness when we found out Lemieux had committed suicide. It’s just a reminder of you never know what demons an individual is fighting, and Claude was obviously fighting some that were too much for him. While he was someone on the ice you wanted to kill, it was nice to see guys like McCarty eulogize him in the manner they did. The game is one thing, the relationships and reputation built off the ice are another.
9 – SETTLE DOWN: The famous girlfriend of Pirates catcher Paul Skenes is catching heat for her behavior in Toronto last weekend. Cameras caught Livvy Dunne uttering a four-letter word when George Springer hit a leadoff home run. OH MY GOD!!! The horror! How many girlfriends/wives have cheered on their man or expressed their frustration while watching them? I don’t care who you are, you are guilty of the same behaviour at some point so can the “disgust” and the holier than thou attitude and stop being a hypocrite.
10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- New name, same team! The Saskatoon Mamba have come out of the chute with a dull thud having won just once in five tries. Can someone please explain to me why they had to rebrand the team’s name?
- It’s been a long time since the Regina Pats won the Memorial Cup, but they still lead all WHL teams with 4. Wouldn’t it be nice to make that five during the Maddox Schultz-Liam Pue era. I wonder if Regina might want to put a bid in for the event the next time the WHL is the host league. Hmmmmmm!
- Good to see former CTV Regina personality Brit Dort crushing it with the “A” team at the World Hockey Championship in Switzerland alongside Gord Miller and Mike Johnson who are doing Canada’s pool on TSN. The Fox Valley girl could teach her counterparts both male and female how to conduct quick concise interviews.
- He won’t do it, but Mitch Marner taking the Stanley Cup to Toronto might be something that will spin Leafs fans and the Toronto media right off their axis. I’m all for it.
That’s all I got. Have a great week!
